News
July 10, 2020
July 6 FilmOntario Update
Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs – Deadline Today (July 6, 2020)FilmOntario participated in the Standing Committee's public hearings on the economic impact of COVID-19 on Thursday, June 25. We will post a link to the transcript when it becomes available.
We are currently working on a written submission to the Committee. For more background on the Committee's work and the FilmOntario submission, check out the FilmOntario Town Hall held on June 17. We will post a final version of our written submission on the website when it is complete.
We encourage all members to make their own submission to the Committee and express their support of FilmOntario's work. We have prepared a template letter for your use here.
Submissions are due TODAY (July 6, 2020) at 6 pm. Your submission should be uploaded through the Committee website. Feel free to copy Ministers MacLeod and Phillips, as well as us here at FilmOntario.
Throughout the summer we will continue our advocacy work on your behalf in order promote the needs of the industry to all levels of government. Please do not hesitate to be in touch at any time with questions or concerns.
Update on Activities at CRA
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has indicated that they are now returning to normal activities regarding audits of the film and television tax credits. You can read their update here.
This means that they are beginning to contact those who had audits underway prior to the shutdown, and new audits will also be started where applicable. All audits will be conducted from a distance as auditors continue to work from home.
For the time being, CRA has indicated that they will continue the risk assessment procedures initiated at the beginning of the shutdown in order to process claims and issue refunds in a timely manner.
CMF Releases Details of Emergency Relief Funding for Underrepresented Groups
On Friday, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) released details of the COVID-19 emergency relief funding for underrepresented groups and to support regional diversity in the screen-based industry. Fifteen per cent of the Government of Canada’s CMF allocation of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations will be invested through targeted initiatives to ensure equity, including by region, language and for underrepresented groups. This funding totals $13.3 million.
You can find more details on how the funding will be allocated here; details on how to access the funds will be released at a later date.
Canada-Germany Digital Media Codevelopment and Coproduction Incentive
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB) have announced the reopening of their incentive for the codevelopment and coproduction of digital media projects between Canadian producers and German producers based in Berlin-Brandenburg.
Now in its fourth year, the Canada-Germany Digital Media Incentive’s budget is set at $450,000, with each funding organization contributing half of the funds. The total maximum contribution for each project funded through the incentive is $300,000.
To qualify, projects must involve producers eligible under both organizations’ criteria. Projects will have to be created for digital platforms and can be either a game, a web series, multiplatform content, augmented reality, or virtual reality experiences.
All applications must comply with the guidelines for the Incentive which are available on both the CMF and MBB websites. Click here to access the guidelines. The deadline to apply is September 1, 2020.
News to Share?
If there are any updates or announcements you would like to share with your fellow FilmOntario members, please don’t hesitate to let me know at clynch@filmontario.ca and I will include them in the next member update.